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“Don’t, Wade. Don’t do anything,” Kara pled.
“What do you mean? What would I do?”
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, don’t. Just let me bungle my way through this, okay?”
“Okay.”
She doubted he meant it. The man had a hero complex, liked to go charging in to save the day when he sensed trouble afoot. Usually she loved him for it, but not today. She pushed away from the table. “I gotta go.”
“Remember who you are, Kara,” Edie told her. “Remember that you don’t have to hurry everywhere you go and that you can to hold your head up and look people in the eye. And don’t forget the Perfectly Plum eye shadow. It’s your best color.”
Kara sighed. “I’ve got it, Edie. Thank you.”
She started for the door and Edie raced after her, gave her a hug and whispered, “Don’t give your heart away, Kara. Not until you’re sure of him. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” Edie kissed her on the forehead and Kara headed home.
* * *
“How much farther, Vinnie?” Angela shifted in her seat, tugging at the dressy skirt that seemed entirely too fitted and snug. She’d taken off the jacket and tossed it over the back of the seat, heeled off the pumps and left them lying on the floor. She was restless. Itching for a hit—just one—but Vinnie wouldn’t give her so much as a sniff. He said he wanted her to look respectable when they arrived in Big Falls, Oklahoma.
“You know, if they find out you left the state you could be in big trouble, Vinnie.”
“So long as I show up for my trial, they won’t do a damn thing.”
“They might.”
He shrugged. “We won’t be gone long, sweetie. We’ll get back just as soon as we’ve convinced your ex-hubby to cooperate, hmm?”
“I know.” She looked lovingly at him. “It was so thoughtful of you to bring all those toys and games and things along for my little boy,” she said. “I haven’t sent him any Christmas presents since I left him.”
“So this year you will.”
She sighed. “I hope you don’t mind so much that I... don’t want to see him. I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to, just that... “
“It’s too hard for you. I understand.” He patted her thigh. “We can have the stuff shipped or give it to Corona to give to the kid after we’re gone.”
“I’m so glad you understand.”
He nodded. “Lemme see that photo you have in your wallet again.”
She opened her wallet, took out the photo of Tyler—the one she’d taken from Jim’s apartment. It showed Tyler sitting on a rocking horse, wearing a cowboy hat smiling big. No braces on his legs in that shot. He looked like a normal little boy.
She handed the photo to Vinnie.
He glanced at it. “He’s four, you say?”
“Almost five now.”
“And he doesn’t even know you?”
She pressed her lips tight “It’s better that way.”
He sighed. “Wouldn’t you like to see him, Ang? I mean, not to tell him who you are or anything but just to look at him from a distance, you know? Wouldn’t you like that?”
She blinked rapidly because tears welled. “It hurts too much to see him. He’s better off without me messing up his life, Vinnie. And seeing him just makes it harder.”
